Thanks for the heads up, Trav. There's a Big Lots in the town I work in. I'll have to check it out Monday. Most of their "Tiki" stuff is pretty lame, although, I did pick up one of the Pele statues a coupla years ago.

I bought this T shirt in Hawaii several years ago and decided to do something with it before the image was completely gone. I bought a very bad velvet painting at Goodwill for $1, took it apart, streched and stapled the shirt over the velvet and then reinstalled the frame.... I really wish the grey fabric was black , but doubt I could dye it without ruining the image.

Just a question. I picked up some clearance plastic tiki cups from party city and am planning on turning them into mounted lights for by bar. I want to do a grey wash or stain on them to tone down the plastic look but still have a visible glow from within. I thought about a thinned out dark wood stain as a wash and they spray it with a sealant but am not sure how well that would work. Any suggestions on what to use?
_________________"I've been ionized, but I'm okay now." - B. Banzai

“The trouble with jogging is that the ice falls out of your glass.” Martin Mull

Hey Erk. You could try amber shellac. I'd test it out first on an extra piece that you have. The more coats the warmer the glow. You can find it at the big box stores in the stain department.
_________________"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

I looked in to amber shellac but the only way I could get some was too purchase a 1/2 gallon for $17 so I passed. I will look into Testors. Thanks!
_________________"I've been ionized, but I'm okay now." - B. Banzai

“The trouble with jogging is that the ice falls out of your glass.” Martin Mull

Hi! I've been following TC for awhile but this is my first post. I'm not very crafty but I did do some bedside tables for my tiki bedroom that came out pretty well. Took 2 of those round endtables from like walmart or like place (about $9 for table and $5 for glass top) I took some pages from old calendars I had saved and glued/taped them to the top in a collage. On the other one I found some fabric I liked and covered the top, using hot glue. Then I took some of the grass skirts you can pick up at any party store (the adult size) and hotglued around the edge. I trimmed the raffia so it just touched the floor. Place glass top on to protect the pictures/fabric. I don't think it turned out too bad for my first attempt at making something myself. This idea can easily be personalized to fit any theme or changed out. All I had were beach scenes which aren't too tiki, but it's apparent anything would work. I'll post a few pics as soon as my computer lets me download from my camera (we're having another spat )

I wanted some sort of box to keep my meager tiki drink supplies together so here's what I came up with. I bought a book shaped box a Michael's for $5*

I printed a picture of Michener's "Return to Paradise" and decoupaged it to the front of the book then divided the inside into compartments and covered the dividers with embossed felt. It holds a 5 ounce measure, recipe cards, straws, swizzles, and of course, paper umbrellas

*Never pay full price at Michael's, there is a coupon for 40 or 50% off any single item online or in every Sunday newspaper. Why can't Lowe's do that!?

As a lighting cameraman my philosophy is always that the actors and objects should look like they are glowing from the INSIDE, not like light is being thrown on them. The same goes for Tiki Lounge lighting in my mind: Everything should GLOW softly! Like the Beachcomber lamps on the ceiling.

I started with my SMALL, CLEAR Disneyworld goblet, by using a red, frosted X-mas light bulb:

Conventional lighting wisdom tells you that to get a glow, softer (frosted) light sources are better, but when I used a CLEAR amber bulb in the same clear glass:

...the harder light was refracting in the edges and corners of the molded glass much more effectively, giving me a better rendition of the outlines of the mask!

The same proved to be true for the BIG, FROSTED Disneyworld goblet. Here's a frosted, purple bulb:

...and here an amber clear bulb:

Although not as even, the facial features are clearer defined. Here is the bulb I recommend:

A 15W amber flame tip

You should be able to still get some colored TUNGSTEN light bulbs at your local hardware store.
Now the WHITE frosted and clear goblets take any color bulb, from red to blue to green or yellow, but for the green and amber colored mugs, don't use the COMPLEMENTARY color, because the two opposing colors will cancel each other out:

A red bulb in a green glass mug for example just creates a red hot spot, but makes the rest of the glass almost black in parts, instead of making it glow. I know in the photo it looks like flames, but it doesn't in real life, it just breaks up the facial features. A green, clear bulb will work much better (I didn't have one).

For all other mugs, I like using X-mas light strings for my collection -but not like this!:

This kind of X-mas lighting destroys any authentic atmosphere in a bar.

The cords have to be hidden, and the bulbs should work like foot lights on a stage: